Note: This Tier List has been updated as of November 8th, 2022.
Players might be having trouble deciding which class to play inWoW Classic: Wrath of the Lich King.Tier lists can often be a helpful tool to decide which class and specialization to play. Ultimately, the decision of which class is the most fun to play is different for each player. One basic metric to use is the amount of damage that a particular class can output in any given scenario or their Damage Per Second (DPS).
The majority of classes are middle of the pack in terms of performance, however, there are some obvious winners andlosers throughout the expansion. All classes have at least one specialization that performs well at some point in theWrath of the Lich Kingexpansion, so players shouldn’t worry too much about their class choice. Many players often choose tochange specializationsdepending on the different phases of the expansion.
WotLK DPS Rankings Criteria
This tier list ranks all DPS specializations for their performance across theentire expansion. We compare each specialization based on a number of key factors such asSingle-Target, Cleave,andArea of Effect (AoE)damage as well as anyUtilityin the form ofBuffsandDebuffsthat add value to the group. It’s also important to factor in the relative difficulty to play each specialization to its fullest potential.
Some specializations also perform better depending on thetype of contentthey find themselves in. The theoretical performance of a specialization in any given encounter varies depending on a multitude of factors such as shorter or longer duration fights, if the damage is largely single-target, cleave, or AoE, and if it favors ranged or melee classes more. It’s also worth noting that some specializations havegear dependenciesat various stages of the expansion. The most notable example of this is thelack of Armor Penetrationin early stages of the expansion that hampers physical damage dealers. In addition to this, the composition of the group will also affect the maximum performance of any particular class.
This list takes all of the above factors into consideration and provides a brief description of where each class can have the opportunity to rise to the top of the throne or fall to the bottom of the pit.
WotLK Classic DPS Class Specialization Rankings
Click the name specialization in the table below to quickly jump to the section that explains the reasoning for their placement.
D
Beast Mastery Hunter,Subtlety Rogue,Frost Mage
Update Note 06-08-2025: Now that over a month has passed since WotLK was released, we have more data available fromWarcraftlogsto identify how things are shaping up. We currently seeDemonology Warlocks on top as the #1 DPS, basically matched by another familiar S-Tier face: Affliction Warlock. The Assassination Rogue is currently S-Tier as expected, though it is A-Tier on this list originally as we expected it to fall off in favor of Combat spec in later expansions when armor penetration is more widely available. Regardless, it is excelling in the DPS department and has been moved into the S-Tier echelon.
One of the bigger surprises is that theFrost Death Knight is currently slightly above middle-of-the-pack, compared to the S-Tier from the original rankings. This is specialization was originally expected to excel especially in the first phase. They have dropped from S to A-Tier
It was no surprise that the specializations in our Tier B, C, and D are all bottoming the charts in DPS so far in almost the exact order we depicted in this tier list.
Unholy Death Knight
S-Tier:Unholy Death Knight’s(UH)damage is practically on par with theFrost Death Knight. They, too, benefit from magic-based damage where other classes struggle with lower armor penetration. Where Unholy shines is in longer duration AoE encounters where their diseases can provide incredible damage. In addition, Unholy Death Knights can make use ofShadowmourneonce it becomes available, and at that point Unholy noticeably outpaces Frost. To get the most out of Unholy, just like with Frost, it also requires a more involved damage rotation.
Unholy Death Knight PvE Guide
Assassination Rogue
S Tier:Assassination Roguesare a really strong class all throughout the expansion, however, Combat Rogues scale better with gear as the expansion progresses. They perform slightly better during earlier phases than Combat Rogues due to the nature of the shorter fights, but on longer fights and fights with cleave, Assassination Rogues fall a bit behind.
With the right slow dagger in the main hand such as a Titansteel Spellblade with Instant Poison on it, rogues also do insane AoE damage.
Assassination Rogue PvE Guide
Combat Rogue
S-Tier: Combat Roguesare in the top tier due to the sheer raw damage that they can pump out. They do suffer early on due to a lack of armor penetration on gear, but once that is no longer a problem they absolutely dominate the damage charts. Most Combat Rogues will start out as Assassination as their damage isn’t hindered as much by Armor Penetration. They provide some specific group utility and like all rogues bring Tricks of the Trade.
Combat Rogue PvE Guide
Fire Mage
S-Tier:Fire Magesstart out fairly weak early on as they need a significant amount of crit to really excel. They have superb single-target and AoE damage, decent Cleave damage, and don’t suffer from mana issues in longer fights. Their rotation is fairly simple only involving a few abilities for most encounters. However, many Players will start asArcaneas they have a significant advantage with Hit Rating from Talents and then switch to Fire once more crit has been obtained.
Fire Mage PvE Guide
Affliction Warlock
S-Tier:Affliction Warlocks(Afflic)are a top-tier DPS throughout most of the expansion. While there may be some minor ups and downs with gear sets and short fights, they are strong in nearly every measure. They have excellent single-target damage with their vast array of damage-over-time skills. They also have great AoE and cleave potential with multi-dotting. And finally, the potential bonus damage in the execute phase withDrain SoulandDeath’s Embrace. Not only are they great damage dealers, but they are also the best at providing the spell critical strike chance debuff.
